1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to photonic integrated circuits and, more particularly, to integrating III-V lasers with silicon-based photonic structures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) provide substantial benefits over conventional electronics. The use of photonics allows signals to propagate at the speed of light within the circuit, greatly increasing the potential speed of PIC devices. However, while structures for silicon-based PICs exist, silicon lacks the ability to generate light by itself.
To address this problem, III-V materials have been employed in conjunction with silicon by fusing a III-V light-emitting device to a silicon waveguide. This has been accomplished using a process called plasma-assisted wafer bonding, where the materials are exposed to an oxygen plasma before being pressed together. The direct growth of III-V materials on silicon generally results in crystal dislocations, defects which shorten the lifetime of the laser. However, discrete optical components will frequently be misaligned when fused together. Such misalignments between optical components introduce optical loss within PICs.